1. This is a busy post with a thrilling range of topics for you to digest
2. I never fib, not even a little

Only one of the above statements is wholly true. You decide which.

The snippets that follow each have a loose segue from one to the other. Really.

I admit it, I was… w… wr… wr… WRONG. Some time ago, I suggested that you must be a total bozo if you didn’t e-mail out a complete post rather than a summary via your WordPress settings. Well, maybe “total bozo” is too strong. As was pointed out to me at the time, and verified via the WordPress support folks, they don’t count posts that are read only via e-mail in their Stats. (I didn’t get a coherent reason for why they don’t as it’s relatively simple to get some statistics in this way.) For now, I’ve changed my Settings to just send a summary of this and future posts. I know, it means I’m…mean. You have to go this web-site to see the full (and thrilling) content. If you don’t like this, please feel to complain to me directly via a face slap, phone call, IM, e-mail, or comments here, depending on how well you know me.

Recently I met in person another of our bloggers for the first time (who didn’t face slap me). We had a late dinner out West. He’s fascinating. Not at all what you expect from his blog title, nor from his posts. He’s much more grounded and fun than I expected. The dinner was supposed to include Lillian, but she was too busy packing pods to move her belongings to North Virginia. Packing up and moving always take longer and is more stressful than you ever think it will. I liken it to childbirth. Stop by any hospital where a women has just given birth and ask her if she’d like to have another baby soon and the answer you’ll get is, “FUCK OFF! Who the fuck are you anyway?!” because you’re really not supposed to just stop by maternity wards like that, and because women who have just given birth can be a teensy bit grumpy. But my most recent point is that most women who’ve just experienced the Thrill and Excitement of childbirth tend to be a little…reticient…to have another baby. Over time, the memories of the experience fade and — voilà! — another baby is happily on the way. Getting back to my earlier point, anyone who is moving or has just moved will swear off ever moving again. Realtors I know say new owners often plan to leave feet first when they die (which is, in itself, odd as coffins are usually moved head-first). Then they move anyway some years later. Getting back to my main point, Lillian had to explore her house — now her ex-husband’s house — and identify, document, and pack everything she wanted. At the same time as agreeing on the list of items and values with her ex. Not an easy task. Which is why she missed dinner, and the chance to meet our searching friend.

On a recent trip out West, my girlfriend Lillian and I had a side trip to southern California (Laguna Beach) for the wedding of one of her many siblings. We stayed with another of her siblings, her brother. He is someone I like very much — he’s clever, funny, and engaging. His wife is equally wonderful. She’s charming and a strong competitor with my Brigitte for one of the nicest people on the planet. His rented house, however, worries me. The master bedroom and the next smallest bedroom have no coverings at all. As this is a multi-million dollar home, the views all overlook the Pacific Ocean. But still. The bedroom doors are next; they’re all smoked glass. This glass is opaque if you have the light on inside and outside the room. It’s not so opaque if it’s night and the light is only on in the bedroom…or bathroom. Which leads to a second…issue. The house had a Jack-and-Jill bathroom. (For non-American readers, this is a bathroom shared between two bedrooms.) The smoked glass doors meant that the teenage boy in the other bedroom would presumably have had excellent views of anyone in the bathroom when his light was off at night. Naturally, this means that there are things that Lillian and I didn’t feel comfortable doing in this environment, despite the completely welcoming hospitality.

The things I have been doing and the priorities I have been assigning to the duties and tasks in my life will be discussed in the equally thrilling Part 2 post. Have you decided yet which of my statements above are true?

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About Single Dad

I married young. Now, after more than 20 years of marriage, 3 wonderful daughters, and many ups and downs, my wife has decided the marriage is over. The "About Me" and "My Background" pages on my blog have more details.